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Is It Media Hype Or Would Electing The First Woman Mayor Of Paris Mean Something For France?

Napoleon Bonaparte would surely be turning in his grave. The French leader who once famously declared that women are nothing but “machines for producing children,” would be aghast that the two main contenders for mayor of the country’s capitol are, indeed, women.

But the pint-sized man lived in a different era. So why then, in modern day France, is the latest – a woman likely filling the top spot in Paris – coming off as a coup de theatre?

First, let’s address the media hype outside of France.

Several media outlets in the US and UK have reported that this is the first time a woman would be mayor of Paris in 2000 years. Two thousand years! Mon dieu!

That, shall we say, may be an exaggeration of biblical proportions.

A quick Wikipedia search confirms the factual and historical inaccuracy:

Before the French Revolution, the municipality of Paris was headed by the provost of the merchants (French: prévôt des marchands). On 14 July 1789, at the end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille, the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles, was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris city hall. The next day, the first mayor of Paris (French: maire de Paris) was elected.

Which means that the first mayor of Paris was elected on 15 July 1789 – 224 years ago, not 2000 years ago.

Then, there is the media hype inside France – journalists titillated by the fact that two French women will be pitted against each other.

“It’s ridiculous,” says the French philosopher Geneviève Fraisse. “Some male journalists in France are happy to take a misogynistic view on the battle. They say that two women fighting each other will bring more passion, but passion in a bad sense.”

I’m getting a flashback of the 2007 presidential election debate between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal. “You lose your temper very easily,” the future President chided his female opponent, clearly playing into the stereotypes.

My French friend, Claire Sancelot, reminded me that the reality in French politics is that women have to face constant prejudice.

“I cannot stop thinking about the time last summer, when Cecile Duflot, the Minister of Territorial Equality and Housing wore a blue and white summer dress and received many macho comments from older ministers. My generation was just baffled by this,” says Claire.

So could the developments out of the City of Light be an early sign of a new political revolution for women in France – the country that, while progressive, still notoriously lags behind the rest of Western Europe and the US in gender equality.

According to the Gender Gap Report issued by the World Economic Forum (as reported by the Washington Post), “The French Republic ranks 57th in the world for women’s equality, behind much of Eastern Europe, as well as Mongolia, Uganda and others. France is also the absolute worst in the world for gender wage equality.”

And what exactly would electing the first woman mayor of Paris in almost 225 years mean to the women of France?

“She will be an image for emancipation,” says Geneviève Fraisse. “Two women fighting for the role of mayor of Paris means something is possible for all women in their own lives in France. Even if they are not in competition for a high status role; even if they are not bourgeoisie, it means things are changing.”

Viva La Revolution?

The man who gave us the baby-making machine quote also once said that that a revolution can be neither made nor stopped. “The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.”

And would a woman holding office mean that gender issues would be better addressed in the French capitol?

“As female politicians and as mothers, they will of course be aware of the issues more than a man, but as a mayor in Paris today trying to make more daycare available and things like that – I’m not sure they will do more,” says Geneviève Fraisse.

It seems then, grassroots gender policy issues aside, it’s the symbolic meaning or the ideological representation of a woman mayor in Paris which would be extremely significant for French women.

“In terms of economic equality, overall gender equality and issues around modernity, French people think that, because we made a big revolution two centuries ago, we are right when we stay in a conservative way of thinking,” adds Geneviève.

Whichever candidate takes on the role of mayor will face an uphill battle. Paris has an increasingly large deficit. “The future Mayor will have to implement highly unpopular measures in order to lower the city’s deficit, and take a long-term view on the city’s serious issues in tough economical times,” says Claire.

A thankless task, really. But then again, perhaps a woman is the only real person for the job.

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